Mad But Not Stupid

Amidst all the troubles of Don, Peggy, Joan, Betty, Roger and Pete, I was glad to see the latest Mad Men showed a little more love for Bertram Cooper. In the first season, he was eccentric, but as the leading name in the firm, one assumed he had some mastery of the ad game.

In the second season, howerver, he's too often been a punchline. His last few appearances were often little more than his being a crank or a buffoon. I don't like it when characters are cheapened that way. It was good to see in the next-to-last episode of the season that he had several scenes where he seemed to have a certain amount of control and intelligence--even if he realizes selling the agency might be a big mistake.